The Revenant topped the South Korean box office for the second consecutive week and The Big Short debuted in third place from Jan. 22-24, but sales figures were relatively low as total theater attendance plummeted amid record-cold weather.
The survival and revenge drama brought in 26.5 percent of the market share during this time frame, with weekend sales amounting to about $3.22 million—significantly lower than the $4.8 million it earned last week as it garnered 35.2 percent of the revenue.
This can be attributed to how many Koreans stayed indoors amid the bitter weather, as the temperature dropped to minus 8 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 18 degrees Celsius) in Seoul on Sunday morning, the coldest weather here since 2001. Total theater admissions dropped to an all-time low of 1.58 million for total revenue of $10.6 million—down 21.6 percent from 2 million admissions that cashed in $13.5 million the previous week, from Jan. 15-17. Cinema attendance has dropped over the weeks as the temperature plummeted after recording 4.6 million admissions or $31 million over the Christmas holiday.
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The multiple-Oscar-nominated Fox title has nevertheless earned a cume of $10.37 million, according to Fox.
Coming in second, local drama A Melody to Remember trailed close behind The Revenant, accounting for 24.7 percent of the share. The film handled by NEW grossed a cume of $3.3 million during its debut weekend. Directed by Lee Han, A Melody to Remember is inspired by the true story of a local children’s choir that was founded during the Korean War (1950-53) and went on to tour the U.S., Europe and other parts of Asia.
The Big Short debuted at third place. Its total gross came down to $1.2 million as the star-studded film starring Christian Bale and Brad Pitt hauled in 9.6 percent of the sales revenue.
Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur fell one spot from the week before to rank fourth. The animated feature brought in 8.6 percent of ticket sales, contributing to its cumulative gross of $7.5 million.
Local blockbuster The Himalayas also dropped one place to finish at No. 5. The mountaineering epic accounted for 5.3 percent of the share. Distributed by CJ Entertainment, The Himalayas has so far grossed a total of nearly $50 million.
